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In-form players and improved depth give Scotland a “big opportunity” to challenge for the Six Nations title, says head coach Gregor Townsend.
Adam Hastings, Huw Jones, George Horne and Sean Maitland are notable omissions from the tournament squad.
Cameron Redpath returns from long-term injury and there are five uncapped players in the 39-man pool.
“In terms of where we are, we believe we have a really strong squad,” said Townsend.
“Competition for places has been excellent and we have a lot of players who are fit. With the players we have and the experiences this group has gone through, this is a big opportunity for us.
“The competition is really high because the players are in really good form so they should be confident as individuals and within the team.
“The bar has to be set high. We enter any competition with the goal of winning.
“We won three games last year and were in the fight for every game we played, but we didn’t even finish in the top two so we know how big a challenge it is. It’s a good position to be in to know that on our day we can make it tough for anybody but we’ve got to turn those performances into more wins and play to our potential throughout this tournament.”
Saracens back row Andy Christie is called up for the first time, along with London Irish wing Kyle Rowe and Glasgow flanker Rory Darge, while there will be opportunities for uncapped scrum-halves Ben Vellacott and Ben White, of Edinburgh and London Irish respectively.
Northampton centre Rory Hutchinson and Edinburgh back row Magnus Bradbury are back in the fold having not featured for Scotland in 2021.
Redpath, 22, dazzled on his first cap in last year’s opening Six Nations win against England but injury kept him out of the remainder of the competition. He then had surgery to repair anterior cruciate ligaments in his right knee in May.
“He managed to get a game under his belt prior to the squad selection so we’ll see how he performs for Bath and in our training over the next couple of weeks,” said Townsend of Redpath.
Captain Stuart Hogg is joined by fellow British and Irish Lions Finn Russell, Ali Price, Zander Fagerson, Chris Harris, Rory Sutherland, Duhan Van Der Merwe and Hamish Watson.
On the surprise omission of Gloucester fly-half Hastings, Townsend explained: “Adam is unlucky. He just missed out. At the moment we feel Blair (Kinghorn) and Finn are playing better.
“Those who miss out are right to feel disappointed. We gave each of them some feedback. It’s a challenge for them and we want to see them respond.”
Scotland begin the tournament against England at Murrayfield on 5 February.
A trip to Cardiff is followed by a home fixture with France and then Townsend’s team go to Rome and Dublin.
Scotland squad
Backs: Mark Bennett, Darcy Graham, Chris Harris, Stuart Hogg (captain), Rory Hutchinson, Sam Johnson, Blair Kinghorn, Rufus McLean, Ali Price, Cameron Redpath, Kyle Rowe, Finn Russell, Kyle Steyn, Sione Tuipulotu, Duhan van der Merwe, Ben Vellacott, Ben White.
Forwards: Ewan Ashman, Josh Bayliss, Jamie Bhatti, Magnus Bradbury, Andy Christie, Scott Cummings, Rory Darge, Matt Fagerson, Zander Fagerson, Grant Gilchrist, Jonny Gray, Nick Haining, Jamie Hodgson, Stuart McInally, WP Nel, Jamie Ritchie, Pierre Schoeman, Javan Sebastian, Sam Skinner, Rory Sutherland, George Turner, Hamish Watson.